Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H6, Canada.
Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2017 May 22;56(22):6083-6087. doi: 10.1002/anie.201610353. Epub 2016 Nov 30.
Growth of three-dimensional cancer spheroids (CSs) in man-made hydrogels mimicking natural extracellular matrix is an important and challenging task. Herein, we report on a supramolecular temperature-responsive hydrogel designed for the growth and subsequent release of CSs. A filamentous hydrogel was formed at 37 °C from an aqueous suspension of cellulose nanocrystals surface-functionalized with temperature-responsive polymer molecules. The encapsulation of cells in the hydrogel enabled effective growth of CSs with dimensions determined by the concentration of cellulose nanocrystals in the hydrogel. On demand release of CSs without loss of cell viability and spheroid integrity was achieved upon hydrogel cooling. The tumorigenic properties of the released CSs were examined by encapsulating and re-growing them in fibrin hydrogel. The results in this work can be used in fundamental cancer research and in cancer drug screening.
在模拟天然细胞外基质的人造水凝胶中培养三维肿瘤球体（CSs）是一项重要且具有挑战性的任务。本文报道了一种超分子温度响应水凝胶，用于 CSs 的生长和随后的释放。在 37°C 下，由经温度响应聚合物分子表面功能化的纤维素纳米晶体的水悬浮液形成纤维状水凝胶。通过将细胞封装在水凝胶中，可以有效生长 CSs，其尺寸由水凝胶中纤维素纳米晶体的浓度决定。通过水凝胶冷却，实现了在不损失细胞活力和球体完整性的情况下按需释放 CSs。通过将其包裹并重新生长在纤维蛋白水凝胶中来检查释放的 CSs 的致瘤特性。这项工作的结果可用于基础癌症研究和癌症药物筛选。
